Catera Bentley stared at the positive pregnancy test and couldn맥스카지노�t believe her eyes. She took a second test, then a third 맥스카지노� there was no question. She was pregnant.She called her husband at work and told him that there was a giant spider in the house that he had to come get rid of. He rushed home, and when he arrived, Bentley revealed the news. They both burst into tears.The couple, who live in Steele, Alabama, had been trying to have a child for more than two years, but Bentley맥스카지노�s doctor had told her that she may be unable to conceive because of her history of polycystic ovary syndrome, known as PCOS.The news had left her feeling without a purpose. 맥스카지노�That맥스카지노�s all I wanted to be was a mom and a wife,맥스카지노� said Bentley, 25. 맥스카지노�I was depressed, severely depressed for that whole time.맥스카지노�Five months earlier, in October 2022, Bentley had started taking Mounjaro for weight loss. Over the first few months, she said, she lost about 40 pounds. Her menstrual cycles, which had been irregular because of PCOS, became normal. And she even felt happier.맥스카지노�It just made me feel like a whole new person,맥스카지노� she said. 맥스카지노�I was in a better mood every single day.맥스카지노�Bentley had hoped that losing weight might help her get pregnant, and she맥스카지노�d heard about others having success with weight loss while taking the shot. But when she did become pregnant 맥스카지노� sooner than she expected 맥스카지노� she worried about the effects it might have on her baby.'Ozempic babies'Bentley is far from alone. Numerous women have shared stories of 맥스카지노�Ozempic babies맥스카지노� on social media. But the joy some experience in discovering pregnancies may come with anxiety about the unknowns, as these medicines haven맥스카지노�t been studied in people who are pregnant. 맥스카지노�We don맥스카지노�t know the effect of early exposure 맥스카지노� on the fetus,맥스카지노� said Dr. Jody Dushay, a physician focused on endocrinology and metabolism at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.Dushay said she recommends that women stop taking these drugs two months before trying to get pregnant, as directed in their prescribing information.Ozempic and Mounjaro are part of a class of drugs called GLP-1 receptor agonists, which act by mimicking hormones in the gut involved in insulin regulation and appetite. They맥스카지노�re both approved to treat type 2 diabetes, and each have twin medicines approved for weight loss. Ozempic uses the active ingredient semaglutide, and Wegovy is the version approved for weight loss. Mounjaro uses tirzepatide, which also targets a second hormone called GIP, and Zepbound is its brand name for weight loss.The medicines have been shown to help people lose 15% to 20% of their body weight, on average, in clinical trials.And because of the way GLP-1 drugs work, experts say, there are reasons they may lead to more pregnancies as well as cause for caution about their use in early pregnancy.An effect on birth controlFor one, weight loss can generally be associated with increased fertility by restoring normal ovulation in people who have PCOS or other causes of abnormal cycles, said Dr. Daniel Drucker, a professor and researcher at the University of Toronto맥스카지노�s Mount Sinai Hospital and a pioneer of research into GLP-1.맥스카지노�If you start on these medicines and then you lose 5, 10, 15% of your body weight, very often, you will have an improvement in ovulation,맥스카지노� Drucker said.One scenario that맥스카지노�s 맥스카지노�quite conceivable,맥스카지노� he said, is that someone who has obesity and doesn맥스카지노�t have frequent menstrual periods starts one of these medicines, loses weight over several months and finds that they맥스카지노�re still not having regular periods 맥스카지노� 맥스카지노�only now it might be because you맥스카지노�re pregnant.맥스카지노�Video below: High cost makes weight loss, diabetes drugs inaccessibleOn top of that, Mounjaro and Zepbound have a warning in their prescribing information that they may render birth control pills less effective.Drucker said this may be because the drugs work in part by slowing the rate at which food moves through the stomach. This can make people feel full for longer but also could interfere with absorption of other medicines, including birth control pills.Mounjaro and Zepbound warn about this explicitly on their labels, but Ozempic and Wegovy only warn more broadly about absorption of any drugs taken by mouth.Safety in pregnancyEven as GLP-1 medicines may increase fertility, little is known about their safety during pregnancy. The drugs맥스카지노� makers, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, excluded people who were pregnant or planned to become pregnant from their clinical trials, a common practice when testing new medicines.But that doesn맥스카지노�t mean there맥스카지노�s no information available.맥스카지노�The more these meds are used, the more women will get pregnant while taking them, and we will in that way accumulate data on risk of early pregnancy exposure,맥스카지노� Dushay explained. In other words, 맥스카지노�we basically gather data from 맥스카지노�accidents맥스카지노� as we do for most drugs.맥스카지노�The few studies available about babies whose mothers took GLP-1s early in pregnancy haven맥스카지노�t turned up major causes for concern, although researchers note that more study is needed 맥스카지노� and it맥스카지노�s underway.Novo Nordisk has a registry where it맥스카지노�s collecting data about the safety of Wegovy during pregnancy. A company spokesperson says the findings will be disclosed at the end of the study. An entry on a government database on clinical trials notes that the study plans to enroll more than 1,100 participants and is expected to be completed by the summer of 2027.An Eli Lilly spokesperson said the company also plans to open a pregnancy registry for Zepbound, which was approved at the end of last year.Studies in animals, though, have suggested some cause for caution, Drucker said.맥스카지노�If animals get high doses of these drugs, very often, the babies that are born to the mice and rats are small, and sometimes, they have some malformations,맥스카지노� he noted.That맥스카지노�s probably because the drugs also work by reducing appetite.맥스카지노�If you restrict energy intake in a pregnant animal, then the baby맥스카지노�s not going to get enough nutrients and won맥스카지노�t be able to grow properly,맥스카지노� Drucker said.He also pointed to a study in animals suggesting that GLP-1 drugs may reduce the number of proteins that are responsible for transferring nutrients from the mother to the fetus, often found in the placenta.Already in use for PCOSThose concerns complicate research on the medicines for infertility, but some work is ongoing on one of the most common causes: PCOS. The condition affects as many as 12% of women of reproductive age in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The exact cause of PCOS is unknown, but it맥스카지노�s associated with excess weight, which is thought to contribute to the body맥스카지노�s production of too much insulin. That, in turn, results in hormonal imbalances 맥스카지노� specifically, higher levels of hormones like testosterone, which can stop ovulation and cause irregular periods, acne and excess facial hair, according to the CDC.Although there맥스카지노�s no cure, weight loss alone can lead to significant improvement of symptoms and resumption of regular ovulation and menstruation, said Dr. Anuja Dokras, director of the PCOS clinic at the University of Pennsylvania.Lifestyle changes are the first-line treatment for PCOS, but if those interventions aren맥스카지노�t successful, doctors may prescribe Ozempic or other GLP-1 agonist medications, Dokras said. The 2023 international PCOS guidelines list GLP-1 agonists among the medications for 맥스카지노�management of higher weight in adults with PCOS.맥스카지노�GLP-1 agonists improve insulin resistance and lead to weight loss, so it makes sense that they also improve PCOS symptoms, added Dr. Melanie Cree, director of the multidisciplinary PCOS Clinic at Children맥스카지노�s Hospital Colorado.맥스카지노�It is completely being used now with no evidence because the field knows that if you have 5% weight loss in these individuals with PCOS, you will improve fertility,맥스카지노� she said.Cree noted that studies have shown that liraglutide, an earlier GLP-1 drug sold as Victoza for type 2 diabetes and Saxenda for weight loss, is effective at reducing body weight and testosterone levels in women with PCOS and obesity.Cree also just wrapped up a clinical trial investigating the use of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, for PCOS treatment in adolescent girls. The preliminary findings, which have not been published, showed that both semaglutide and a low-sugar diet resulted in more frequent periods, lower testosterone levels and weight loss 맥스카지노� and the weight loss was much more pronounced in the group taking semaglutide.Regardless of the method, the study found, people who lost more weight had greater decreases in testosterone levels.Cree is now running a larger and longer clinical trial, funded by the National Institutes of Health, that will look specifically at fertility outcomes for young women with PCOS who take semaglutide.And while the drugs맥스카지노� makers aren맥스카지노�t currently running trials in PCOS 맥스카지노� which Cree attributes in part to the fact that PCOS overlaps so much with obesity that it wouldn맥스카지노�t dramatically expand the market for the medicines 맥스카지노� approval for the condition, she pointed out, could have an important effect on insurance coverage, which is challenging for many people using them for weight loss.맥스카지노�For example, Colorado mandates fertility coverage, so if it was approved as a fertility medication, then it would be covered for that indication,맥스카지노� she said.Separately, Cree pointed to another question about the medicines during pregnancy: the potential for quick weight regain that can happen when patients stop them suddenly.맥스카지노�If that맥스카지노�s happening in the setting of pregnancy, when you맥스카지노�re gaining all this weight, what happens?맥스카지노� she said. 맥스카지노�What does that mean? And we just don맥스카지노�t know.맥스카지노�A 맥스카지노�Catch-22맥스카지노�The drugs맥스카지노� makers are also following the 맥스카지노�Ozempic babies맥스카지노� phenomenon. Eli Lilly맥스카지노�s chief of research, Dr. Daniel Skovronsky, says the company has heard these kinds of stories from patients.맥스카지노�One question we맥스카지노�re asking is: is it possible that as we reduce fat, we improve fertility, decrease PCOS and other barriers to fertility?맥스카지노� Skovronsky said.맥스카지노�It맥스카지노�s kind of like heart failure or sleep apnea,맥스카지노� he said, referring to conditions for which GLP-1 drugs have recently shown positive results. 맥스카지노�Just another potential benefit of weight loss from this class of medications that we haven맥스카지노�t tested yet.맥스카지노�He also underlined how tricky it is to run studies around fertility of medicines whose safety in pregnancy is unknown; Cree referred to a requirement for birth control in studies of GLP-1 drugs as a 맥스카지노�Catch-22맥스카지노� for fertility indications.맥스카지노�Right now, unfortunately, it맥스카지노�s really hard to study the effects of these drugs on fertility, because that implies exposing women to a drug with a high risk that they맥스카지노�ll have a pregnancy during exposure to the drug and the risks to the baby haven맥스카지노�t been fully analyzed yet,맥스카지노� Skovronsky said.Bentley, who got pregnant while taking Mounjaro, said she stopped taking the medicine as soon as she found out she was pregnant. But she said she continued to worry about the effect of the drug on her baby.맥스카지노�I worried up until the day I had her,맥스카지노� she said.Her daughter, Ivy, was born healthy on her due date, weighing 7 pounds and 7 ounces. Bentley started taking Mounjaro again six weeks after Ivy was born.